Do Hotspot and User Portal users consume their data allocations when using resources on the local network?

Question

I did not think that users logged into the network used up their data allocations when using resources on the local network. I have a media streaming device streaming local data, and assumed that this would not use up users data, but some users have reported that it has. 
 Just attempting to get clarrification on this, and if so, is there a way to set up a resource so that it would not use their data? So perhaps data from a certain IP would not consume a users data? Better yet, is there a way to have all local data not affect their data consumption? 
 
 Not sure if I should ask this in firewall and policies or authentication, but this seemed like a good place to start. 
 
 Thanks much :-) 
 Christopher.

Michael Dunn · Accepted Answer

I am not an expert in this. 
 It depends on how you have set up your firewall rules and your network setup. 
 For example, if you have traffic that goes from one part of your LAN to another part of your LAN without going through the XG then of course no bandwidth is used. 
 Lets say for a moment that it does traverse the XG. Say you have a WiFi device downloading data from a LAN internal web server. 
 
 Customer A config: 
 Firewall rule: From Zone LAN, Wifi. To Zone Any. Service HTTP/HTTPS. [ ] exclude this user activity from data accounting 
 
 Customer B config: 
 Firewall rule: From Zone LAN, Wifi. To Zone LAN, Wifi. Service HTTP/HTTPS. [x] exclude this user activity from data accounting 
 Firewall rule: From Zone LAN, Wifi. To Zone WAN. Service HTTP/HTTPS. [ ] exclude this user activity from data accounting 
 
 In Customer A from the Wifi to the LAN goes through the one rule and is counted. 
 In Customer B from the Wifi to the LAN goes through the first rule and is not counted, while traffic out the WAN is counted. 
 
 Depending on what type of bandwidth restriction it is, you might need to look at 
 [ ] Exclude this user activity from data accounting 
 [ ] Apply web-category-based traffic shaping policies 
 [ ] Apply application-based traffic shaping policies 
 or there might be other options hiding somewhere, especially as you get into VPNs and other stuff. But I think everything can be excluded somewhere. 
 
 The important thing is having a separate firewall rule for internal traffic and for external traffic. Once you separate the traffic you can apply different policies and accounting on them. 
 If you wanted that only from a certain IP not consume data allocation, create a high level firewall rule that just applies to that IP. 
 
 AFAIK, "Surfing quota" applies to HTTP/HTTPS service and "Network traffic" to all services. But there is nothing inherent about the Source/Destination in those definitions. It is the firewall rule that determines whether the data is counted for a specific source/destination.

FloSupport · Answer

Hey Heartwood Hub 
 Apologies for this inconvenience. Currently the data volume setting behavior is to calculate all transmitted traffic. I would advise to please raise this as a suggestion on our Sophos Ideas page for visibility to our Product team. 
 Regards,